It is known that when assembling integrated circuits in order to incorporate them into an electronic circuit, the integrated circuits are generally mounted on an intermediate substrate formed by an insulating film into which an aperture for receiving the integrated circuit has been cut, which film has been laminated onto a conductive layer cut so as to form conductive connecting fingers which project into the aperture which receives the integrated circuit. The conductive fingers are generally produced by etching the conductive layer which has been laminated onto the film, so that once produced they extend in the plane of the conductive layer. The connection between the conductive fingers and the integrated circuit is achieved by spot welding the conductive fingers to the terminals of the integrated circuit.
Experience has shown that welding flat conductive fingers to the terminals of an integrated circuit runs the risk of a short-circuit on the edge of the integrated circuit, causing its destruction. Therefore, in order to avoid this short-circuit risk, conductive fingers have been produced which are cambered so as to produce a pinpoint contact between the ends of the conductive fingers and the terminals of the integrated circuit.
Known devices for cambering conductive fingers comprise a matrix having an edge which corresponds to a first fold line on the conductive fingers, and a punch having a dimension which is smaller than one dimension of the matrix which produces a second fold line on the conductive fingers when the intermediate substrate is disposed on the matrix and the punch is engaged inside it. The matrix and the punch must therefore have dimensions which are precisely adapted to the disposition of the conductive fingers on the intermediate substrate and to the disposition of the terminals on the integrated circuit, so that after the cambering of the conductive fingers, the ends of the conductive fingers coincide with the terminals of the integrated circuit. Therefore, it is not possible to use the same matrix and the associated punch in connection with different integrated circuits having terminals disposed in different configurations, especially since the terminals are generally distributed on different sides of the integrated circuit. Due to the fast that the matrix and the associated punch must be contracted with extreme precision, the cost thereof is very high and is therefore not compatible with their utilization in the laboratory, where prototypes of electronic circuits are generally constructed with various integrated circuits which are mounted on a board in very small numbers.
Moreover, the existing cambering devices do not ensure the cambering of conductive fingers which have unequal lengths or sinuous profiles designed to reach terminals disposed at various distances from the edge of the integrated circuit.